Miscellaneous, 329 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF JULY 12, 1861 



This was apparently more limited in its range, at least within 

 Canada, than that of Oct. 1860. We have notices of it only from 

 Montreal, Ottawa, Prescott, Ogdensburgh, Brockville, St. Andrews 

 and St. Johns. It was more violent at Ottawa than elsewhere, 

 shattering walls and throwing down chimneys. It occurred in all 

 the above places about 9 o'clock, p. m. It appears, from collating 

 the statements of several observers, that it was preceded by a 

 rumbling noise, which was followed by a series of slight vibrations, 

 terminating in a sudden shock. At Prescott, three shocks are 

 said to have been experienced. Unless it extended into the Hud- 

 son's Bay territories, from which no accounts have been received, 

 the theatre of the vibration was limited to the central district of 

 Canada, surrounding the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Law- 

 rence. J. w. D. 



GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



In late numbers of the " Abstracts of Proceedings of the Geo- 

 logical Society of London," we find the following notices of papers 

 relating to North American Geology : 



April 10, 1861.—" On the Geology of the Country between 

 Lake Superior and the Pacific Ocean (between 48° and 55° pa- 

 rallels of latitude), explored by the Government Exploring Expe- 

 dition under the command of Captain J. Palliser (1857-60)." 

 By James Hector, M.D. Communicated by Sir E. I. Murchison, 

 V. P. G. S. 



This paper gave the geological results of three years' exploration 

 of the British Territories in North America along the frontier- 

 line of the United States, and westward from Lake Superior to 

 the Pacific Ocean. . ^ 



It began by showing that the central portion of North America 

 is a great triangular plateau, bounded by the Bocky Mountains, 

 Alleghanies, and Laurentian axis, stretching from Canada to the 

 Ai'ctic Ocean, and divided into two slopes by a watershed that 

 nearly follows the political boundary-line, and throws the drainage 

 to the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean. The northern part 

 of this plateau has a slope from the Rocky Mountains to the 

 eastern or Laurentian axis, of six feet in the mile, but is broken 



